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You can turn in your Bibles to 
Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Definitely a fitting 
place in the Scriptures to go to as we look forward to observing 
the Lord's Supper where we recognize, where we remember, where we celebrate 
the Lord Jesus Christ's body broken for us and his blood shed 
for us. One old British Baptist preacher 
once said, marking or commenting on the Jewish unbelieving rejection 
of Jesus Christ as the Messiah. They said, the Jews could not 
endure, he said, the Jews could not endure a crucified Messiah. He would go on to say that multitudinous 
ceremonies and diverse washings and sacrifices were these all 
to be put away and nothing left but a bleeding Savior. We as 
Christians in our era say yes. We as Christians and Christians 
throughout every era say yes. All that is left is a bleeding 
Savior. That theological principle and 
that glorious reality that Jesus Christ is the only treasure in 
our treasury of merit is to be proclaimed by Christians everywhere. Jesus paid it all. all to Him 
I owe." And we come to Isaiah 53, and we find Scripture written 
to round up 700 years prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ that speaks with great clarity concerning His crucifixion. We could say, in fact, that the 
clarity of The theological meaning behind Christ's saving cross 
work in Isaiah 53 is just as clear as any place that we read 
in the New Testament. The clarity that it brings regarding 
Christ's saving work as being one of perfect substitutionary 
sacrifice is clear from the text in Isaiah 53. Well, let's read 
the text. We're actually going to read 
if we Back up a little bit to Isaiah 52, 13. We'll start reading 
there to the end of Isaiah 53. Isaiah 52, verse 13. Behold, my servant shall deal 
prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled 
and be very high. Just as many were astonished 
at you, so his appearance was marred more than any man and 
his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many 
nations. Kings shall shut their mouths 
at him. For what had not been told them, they shall see. And 
what they had not heard, they shall consider. Who has believed 
our report? And to whom has the arm of the 
Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him 
as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no 
form or comeliness. And when we see him, there is 
no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected 
by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we 
hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did 
not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs 
and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, 
smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. 
The chastisement for our peace was upon him. And by his stripes 
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his 
own way. And the Lord has laid on him 
the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth. 
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers 
is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison 
and from judgment. And who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land 
of the living. For the transgressions of my 
people, he was stricken. And they made his grave with 
the wicked, but with the rich at his death. because he had 
done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased 
the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When 
you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, 
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his 
soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous 
servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. 
Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great, and 
he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured 
out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors. 
And he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors." 
Amen. Well, let's again open in prayer. 
Our God, we thank you for this text of Scripture that we read. 
We bless your name, Lord God, for this portion of Scripture 
that discloses with glorious clarity the saving work of the 
Lord Jesus Christ and the importance and the meaning and the value 
and the seriousness of that death, what it means, its perfection, 
and what it means for Christ's people. We thank you for this 
text. We pray that you would help us 
to avail of what it reveals to us, that we would glory in its 
truths, that we would rejoice in the Christ that it presents 
to us, and Lord God, that we would go from this place by virtue 
of these truths, seeking to live in a manner worthy of the gospel 
by which we were called. Be with us now as we engage in 
preaching. Again, what we do, we do pray 
that it is done unto the praise of your name and unto the praise 
of your glorious grace. And it's in Christ's name that 
we do pray. Amen. Well, again, a glorious passage 
of Old Testament scripture, prophetic in its nature, proclaiming the 
bruised and battered and crucified Jesus hundreds of years prior 
to that glorious central to Christianity event. It's a wonderful passage 
of Holy Scripture. We see if you were to grab a 
parallel text, or not a parallel text, but a text in the New Testament 
that brings these truths out and cites them. John 18 and 19, 
the account of the crucifixion there. The author, John, going 
to many of the places in this scripture and bringing out the 
fulfillment of them. We see also in Acts chapter 8, 
remember the Ethiopian eunuch. The Ethiopian eunuch is traveling 
along And Philip runs after him, chases him down, and asks him 
what he is reading. He's reading this particular 
passage of Holy Scripture, Isaiah 53. And from that text, Philip 
preaches Jesus to the Ethiopian unit. We get to 1 Peter, other 
texts to be sure, but we get to 1 Peter chapter 2. And the 
Apostle Peter there cites, almost states verbatim, Isaiah 53 in 
arguing for the the perfection of the saving work of Jesus Christ. 
Actually, in the context, he's exhorting masters and slaves. 
And he uses the substitutionary atonement of Jesus as a reason 
to exhort the masters and the slaves in that particular context, 
the slaves specifically. But the New Testament brings 
to bear the proper interpretation of Isaiah 53 that the prophet 
here is speaking concerning the sacrificial substitutionary work. of our perfect Jesus. So we're 
going to, from this text tonight, look at five things briefly as 
we look forward to observing the Lord's Supper. Those five 
things are Christ's humility, His substitution, His resolve, 
His perfection, and His triumphant reward. Just briefly by way of 
introduction. See, the Lord's Supper gives 
us an occasion to rehearse the ABCs of Christianity, if you 
will, if we can use that terminology. Spurgeon did, so I'll sit on 
his shoulders and say what he said. You see, not that we don't. I believe here at Free Grace 
Baptist Church, humbly, that from the pulpit every Sunday 
you hear of Jesus. You hear of the centrality of 
Christ. You hear of the glorious riches and the excellencies of 
Jesus in his revealed gospel and the necessity of belief in 
him for everlasting life. There is something to the Lord's 
Supper that is special. Christ commanded, do this in 
remembrance of me. So you see, we come to the Lord's 
table and it is a special and peculiar way by which we return 
to those beginning points of Christianity and glory in the 
cross. This virgin said this. with regards 
to the cross of Christ, babes in Christ and men in Christ here 
feed upon common food. Come ye aged saints, be children 
again, and you that have long known your Lord, take up your 
first spelling book and go over your ABCs again by learning that 
God so loved the world that he gave his son to die that man 
might live through him. I do not call you to an elementary 
lesson because you have forgotten your letters, but because it 
is a good thing to refresh the memory and a blessed thing to 
feel young again. Therefore, do I call you back 
to the cross and to him who bled there on. Blessed exercises, 
we observe the Lord's Supper to return to those spelling books 
of our profession, those ABCs of Christianity, and to rehearse 
the glorious cross. of Jesus Christ. So again, first, 
His humility. Christ's humility. We read this 
clearly in the text. And first, under His humility, 
His messianic task. Notice verses 1 and 2. Who has 
believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the 
Lord being revealed? For He shall grow up before Him 
as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. In the humility 
of Jesus Christ, We, with regards to the humility of Jesus Christ, 
we see it in the fact that in his incarnation, he comes from 
small beginnings, from beginnings that we would not in our human 
minds attach to a messianic mission, would we? In fact, the Jews didn't 
do that, did they? Remember, Spurgeon said the Jews 
could not endure a crucified Messiah. But even before that, 
we read at the outset of the Gospel of John, Jesus, He, came 
to His own, and His own did not receive Him. We see Jesus in 
the account of the Bible, and in our human minds, we can't 
necessarily understand that a Messiah, God manifested in the flesh, 
would again be that babe in a feed trough, born not in an inn, born 
not in a home, but born where livestock feed and are tended 
to. That he would grow up and he would be simply dwelling with 
a carpenter and with a woman who was charged with marital 
infidelity. That he would simply, when he 
engages in his messianic mission, that unlike the foxes who have 
holes and unlike the birds of the air who have their nests, 
he didn't have anywhere to lay his head. The Lord Jesus Christ 
comes and he grows up before God as a tender plant, not a 
mighty rooted tree and as a root out of dry ground, not a plant 
that is in a garden of splendor and much nourishment, but rather 
a root out of dry ground. The beginnings of Christ in his 
incarnation and in his many messianic investiture, they are small beginnings. They are beginnings that we would 
not in our human minds attach. to the Messiah of God. So in His humility, His messianic 
task is seen highlighting that humility and that condescension 
from heaven to earth, from glory to ignominy. Ignominy. That's our Savior. He comes from 
that place of splendor, the praises of the courts of heaven, and 
He comes into this lower world born of a woman born under the 
law. To help us understand the humility 
of Jesus, let's go to John Calvin. He writes this on the text. I cited a portion of this this 
morning, but it's brilliant. Not only does this help us understand 
a bit of Christ's humility, what it is, though it's just a short 
quote, but it also helps us to understand what our humility 
looks like in light of Christ. This is John Calvin commenting 
on Philippians 2 6 in as much as he was in the form of God. 
This is not a comparison between things similar, but in the way 
of greater and less. Christ's humility consisted in 
his abasing himself from the highest pinnacle of glory to 
the lowest ignominy. Our humility consists in refraining 
from exalting ourselves by a false estimation. You see what he's 
saying? We have no right to claim, oh, 
we're humble. Or, you know, we're going to 
exercise humility. We're in a place or a posture 
or a position of prominence. But you know what? We're going 
to condescend and bring ourselves low because we're wholly noble 
and pious. No, he goes on to say he gave 
up Christ, he gave up his right All that is required of us is 
that we do not assume to ourselves more than we ought. Hence, he 
sets out with this, that inasmuch as he was in the form of God, 
he reckoned it not an unlawful thing for him to show himself 
in that form, yet he emptied himself, or he came in the incarnation 
in the form of a bondservant. Since then, the Son of God descended 
from so great a height, how unreasonable that we who are nothing should 
be lifted up with pride. You see what Calvin is highlighting 
there. He departs the glory of heaven, 
the praise of angels, the splendor of the bliss of paradise to come 
into our lower madness of a wicked world in order to carry out his 
messianic task. Again, it's not the type of deliverer 
our human minds conceive. That's why we see here he is 
despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief, which brings us to our second point. Under his humility, 
we see it in Christ's voluntary enduring of his people's rejection. Remember, Christ voluntarily 
comes to in the incarnation to give his life for guilty sinners 
and to rise again the third day. He voluntary endures his people's 
rejection. He is despised and rejected by 
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, 
our faces from him. He was despised and we did not 
esteem him. Again, we read at the outset 
of Christ's earthly ministry. He came to his own and his own 
did not receive him. He came to his own creation, 
his brethren according to his humanity, the people of messianic 
expectation. First off, the people who rejected 
him and reviled him and hated him and spit upon him and bruised 
on him or bruised him with their hands were the making of his 
own hands. He as creator fashioned these 
who were spitting on him. He, as Creator, fashioned those 
who were bruising Him with their hands. Those who were shooting 
out the lip, according to Psalm 22, were those whom Christ made 
in graciousness and in great power. Those who were denying 
Him, who were calling out, crucify Him, crucify Him, were those 
that He gave breath to. And that He was, at the very 
time of their rejection, that He was lifting them and upholding 
them by the word of his power. You see, Jesus Christ in his 
incarnation did not divest himself of his deity and his power and 
his glory. It was hidden in human form, 
but he didn't empty his deity and set it aside and engage in 
a solely human exercise of a messianic task. He is always fully God, 
and he became fully man for our sakes and for his salvific endeavor. And at the time of those blasphemers 
calling for Barabbas and saying, crucify this Christ, Jesus was 
giving them the breath to breathe those breaths and those cries, 
and he was upholding them by the word of his power. He voluntarily 
endures his people's rejection. They were his brethren according 
to his humanity. He comes to his own countrymen, 
if you will allow that language, and they reject him. He came 
to his own, John says, and his own did not receive him. Not 
only that, but they were the people of messianic expectation. They were that body politic who 
were announced to of the coming. It didn't sound like proper language. They were announced. It was announced 
to them that the Savior would come, that Jesus would come. From the outset of creation at 
the fall, the announcement is given that a coming redeemer 
that there is a coming Redeemer, Genesis 3.15. Throughout the 
progression of Old Covenant religion, in our Old Testaments, we have 
that revelation, building upon revelation, that there will come, 
in the fullness of the times, a Savior, born of a woman, born 
under the law, who will redeem those under the law. He comes 
and His own people reject Him in wickedness and in ignorance 
and in scriptural neglect. Jesus, an aspect of his humility, 
is the voluntary enduring of his people's rejection. And just on that, also in verse 
seven, we're sort of progressing through the text here, but in 
verse seven, this is interesting. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, 
yet he opened not his mouth. You see, again, he's standing 
before those that he fashioned in creative power, that he sustains 
in his sovereignty. He grants them all that they 
have by virtue of him being God manifested in the flesh. They 
are opposing him and afflicting him. Yet Jesus doesn't open his 
mouth. You see, not only would we open 
our mouths if we were oppressed and afflicted, being guilty of 
transgressions, But certainly being innocent, we would shoot 
out the lip and answer and revile in return. But Jesus Christ, 
the maker of those, the sustainer of those who were oppressing 
and afflicting, does not open his mouth. And we'll get to that 
at the third point. But secondly, moving on and we 
have his humility. Secondly, we have his substitution. His substitution. Oh, big words, how we loathe 
them. No, as Christians, we shouldn't 
loathe big words. Oh, why do we have to have all 
of these theological words and all of these long seven-syllable 
words? Glorious theological words. Proven words from our brothers 
from the advent of Christianity that highlight and summarize 
the perfection of Jesus and His glorious work. Never reject big 
words, because if you were to read the original Greek, there's 
words bigger than a lot of the English words that we use. Paul 
and the apostles, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, used big 
words in order to communicate the riches and the excellencies 
of our precious Jesus. His substitution. What does substitution 
mean? Acting, functioning or standing 
in the room or stead or place of another. A substitute. We would also use the language 
here of his vicarious work, working or acting in the stead or in 
the place of another. Notice the text. And I hope you 
inside sing the glories and the riches of Jesus as we read this. Verse three, picking up there. 
He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces 
from him. He was despised and we did not 
esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs 
and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, 
smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace 
was upon him. And by his stripes, we are healed. Brethren, that's one of those 
passages, not that there are any where we do this, but that's 
one of those passages where when we're reading our Bibles, and 
however it wholesomely manifests itself, we are to inwardly or 
outwardly bow our faces before the Triune God of Holy Scripture 
in glorious recognition of His condescending and merciful saving 
work. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace 
was upon him. And by his stripes, we are healed. 
Glorious language. This is the heart of the gospel 
that Christ comes and he bears the penal sanctions. That is 
the penalty that was due for his people. That penalty we don't 
bear, he does. The innocent and the precious 
and the perfect one who has no guile, no deceit, no ethical 
blemishes whatsoever comes in the fullness of the times in 
the believers stead and bears all of those penalties that were 
due us for our wickedness, for our transgressions, for our grievous 
sins against the thrice holy God of Holy Scripture. That is 
the stuff of the seraphim and the cherubim, who aren't even 
the recipients of his redemptive work, singing his praises. When the angels praise God more 
than we do for his saving work, I think there might be a problem. 
Now, yes, the angels are the elect angels, you know, perfect 
in their spiritual existence and in their roles as God's ministers 
sent to minister to those who will inherit salvation. But they 
are not the recipients of Christ's peculiar saving and redeeming 
work. Believers are. Christians are. So we come to this passage and 
we uncross our legs. We put down our tea. We turn 
off the fan. And we worship the God of Holy 
Scripture because this is not the stuff of casual observation. 
This is the stuff of a solemn yet glorious rejoicing in the 
saving work of Jesus Christ, because this is the heart, the 
sum, the substance of gospel truth. He has borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows. He 
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. 
The chastisement for our peace was upon him. The fact of His 
substitutionary work is clear from the Scriptures. And hopefully 
you appreciate this language of He and Our. This transaction that is going 
on. He was wounded for our transgressions. Never step over or dance past 
the language here that is small, but glorious. Jesus was wounded 
for Our transgressions, the New Testament authors pick up this 
language of substitution from Isaiah 53 and from the clarity 
of the biblical witness regarding Christ's work. And they write 
glorious passages of their own, highlighting that work. First 
Corinthians, second Corinthians five, second Corinthians five. No doubt this text is familiar 
to you. Let's increase that familiarity 
by turning there and reading it. 2 Corinthians 5, beginning 
at verse 20, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though 
God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, 
be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God 
in Him. Glorious substitution. That language 
of for us, the simple phrase Christ died for us. I think sometimes we minimize 
the power and the glory of that three letter word for or that 
five letter phrase for us. For isn't just that it is a divine 
gift. Christ died for us, but it carries 
the weight and the theological force of Christ died in our stead. Christ died in our room, in our 
place, for us. Glorious, glorious. Galatians 
3.13 Galatians 3.13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of 
the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed 
is everyone who hangs on a tree. These are those texts that we 
ought to have written figuratively on our bodies like the Jews and 
attached to our hands and our ringlets and wherever we're supposed 
to attach them. Figuratively, these are the texts 
of glorious remembrance. Christ has redeemed us from the 
curse of the law, having become a curse for us, having become 
a curse instead of us, having become a curse in our stead, 
in our place. Glorious substitution. One more. Peter in 1 Peter chapter 
2, rehearsing the language of Isaiah 53. Peter in 1 Peter chapter 
2. When you get there, you can navigate 
to verse 23. Who, when he was reviled, speaking 
of Jesus, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not 
threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. 
who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that 
we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose 
stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going 
astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer 
of your souls." It is explicit there. Peter citing Isaiah 53, 
"...who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree." 
Isn't that glorious language? Why doesn't that just cause us 
to sing and to dance? To engage inwardly in a reverential 
awe. To fall on our faces inwardly 
or outwardly worshipping the God of Holy Scripture. He bore 
our sins in His own body on the tree. One who is perfect. One who hadn't sinned. One who is innocent. One who 
has no guile and deceit. One who is ethically perfect. 
God Himself, departing from the blessed state, the worship of 
angels, to bear in His own body our sins on that tree. Glorious 
substitution. It was Christ's substitutionary 
work was planned. This is the six Ps, if you will, 
of Christ's saving work. Christ's substitutionary work. It was planned. It was promised. It was prophesied. It was performed. It was published and it was applied. I know applied starts with an 
A. But it's like the four R's, reading, writing, and arithmetic. 
There's only one R in there, right? The RWA, the three R's, 
reading, writing, I get what they're doing. The six Ps of 
Christ's substitutionary work. It was planned. He chose us in 
him before the foundation of the world. He indeed, Peter says, 
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but manifested 
in these last days for us. It was planned. It was promised. 
Genesis 315 and onward. Revelation is Christward in trajectory, 
pointing forward to that promised Redeemer. It was prophesied. 
Isaiah 53, among many other texts. There is coming, and however 
it's worded, a Savior who will be Christ the Lord. It is performed. We get to the narrative accounts, 
the Gospels, and we see the narrative of Christ coming, marching with 
diligence and with resolve to the cross to perform that which 
was planned, promised, and prophesied. We see it published. Jesus himself 
prior and his sense apostles after publish. That is, they 
proclaim and they disclose the glorious performed work of Jesus, 
his saving perfection. And it is applied. The Holy Spirit 
comes. The Holy Spirit comes and applies 
the rich benefits of Christ's perfect saving work to all who 
believe, to all His people. Beautiful substitution. The result 
of His substitutionary work. Notice, as we go back to Isaiah 
53, the result of His substitutionary work is verse 5, C and D. The chastisement for our peace 
was upon Him. and by his strikes we are healed. 
Surely this came out in what we just covered, but the purpose 
of his substitutionary work is so that we might have peace with 
God and so that we might get that glorious spiritual healing 
that is the forgiveness of sins and the cancelling of the debt 
and condemnation of sin against us. by Christ's substitutionary 
work, we have peace with God. Those glorious texts of the Scripture, 
in announcing the coming of Jesus Christ, He will be what? Isaiah 
says, the Prince of Peace. Micah says that this One who 
is from old, from everlasting, who will come as the eternal 
King, He is peace. The announcement of the angels 
in the birth narrative, the infancy narratives, glory to God in the 
highest, peace. on earth and goodwill toward 
men. And, of course, that exclamation by Paul in Ephesians 2.14, for 
he himself is our peace. Jesus Christ, by his substitutionary 
work, brings peace to his people. Thirdly, his resolve. From Isaiah 53, his resolve. What do we mean by that? We mean 
his determination to complete the task. His determination to 
complete the task. Notice at verse 7, He was oppressed 
and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter 
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His 
mouth. Jesus Christ was wholly abandoned 
to the work that His Father set before Him, and He was going 
to complete it to its perfect fulfillment and fruition. Turn 
to Luke nine with me. Luke chapter nine. A New Testament text that speaks 
to the resolve of Christ, that he was dedicated to, determined 
to complete the task that he was sent to carry out, namely 
the perfect salvation of his people to the praise of God. Verse 51 of Luke chapter 9, Now 
it came to pass, when the time had come for him to be received 
up, that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. You see, when we know that adversity 
is coming, when we know that hardship is coming, rarely do 
we ever lean into it with determination and with resolution and with 
resolve and embrace it. with, you know, with a desire 
to be wholly abandoned unto the receipt of affliction and trial 
and punishment. We don't do that. Usually we 
run and hide. We figuratively, maybe literally 
curl up and cry and suck our thumbs because we fear affliction. We fear oppression. We fear pain, 
tribulation, trial, travail of soul rubs against us. Jesus Christ, 
the perfect redeeming King, comes into this lower world. He knows 
the task set before him. I must be delivered up by wicked 
hands, be crucified and raised again the third day. One man 
has said this with regards to his resolve. He knew where this 
road was going, and he leaned into it. And he leaned into it. Isn't that wonderful? When I 
played rugby, the coaches would instruct us, when we're running 
down the sideline to stay in bounds, we either grip the ball 
with the right hand and we push with the left and lean into the 
opposing tacklers, or we drive through with their shoulder to 
knock them over. You see, we're instructed in oncoming adversity 
for the victory of scoring for our team, we're to lean into 
that coming oppression and that coming angry opponent. Jesus 
Christ leans into coming oppression and affliction because He was 
determined to complete the messianic task to save His people, to die 
for His sheep, and to redeem them perfectly unto the praise 
of His Father. It's a glorious resolve of Jesus 
Christ. A couple of things. Even when 
opposed and afflicted, Jesus remained steadfast. You see, 
He wasn't just steadfast like perhaps we might be in carrying 
out a task like our jobs. There's no necessarily no trial 
or affliction or opposition or anything. We just diligently 
complete a task. Christ in the midst of opposition 
and affliction daily, rejection from his own people, his life 
being sought after by the religious authorities, so much weight of 
opposition and hatred coming upon Jesus, nevertheless, Nevertheless, 
when oppressed and afflicted, Jesus remains steadfast. And 
also, even though he, by the smallest exercise of his power, 
could have escaped from certain death, nevertheless, he's determined 
to complete the task. Matthew 26. Turn there with me. 
Matthew 26. When you get there, verse 52. We'll back up actually to verse 
50. But Jesus said to him, Friend, why have you come? Then they 
came and laid hands on Jesus and took him. And suddenly one 
of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew 
his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off 
his ear. But Jesus said to him, Put your sword in its place, 
for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you 
think that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He will provide 
me with more than twelve legions of angels, How then could the 
Scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus? Isn't that 
wonderful? You see, Jesus is in control 
of the situation. He's not the unwitting recipient 
of the oppression and the affliction, unable to escape and unable to 
affect release somehow. Powerless. Jesus is in control 
of this. Do you not think? that I cannot 
pray to my Father, and He will provide me with not just twelve 
legions of angels, but more than twelve legions of angels? But 
you see, if that were to happen, Jesus said, how then could the 
Scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus? That what 
must happen? That I must be delivered up by 
wicked hands, crucified, and raised again the third day. Jesus 
was determined to complete His messianic task. He had a perfect 
resolve. And we as Christians are the 
blessed beneficiaries of Christ's determination to complete the 
task that his father set before him. Fourthly, his perfection. As we move back to Isaiah 53, 
our text, his perfection. We've noted his humility, his 
substitution, his resolve. Now his perfection. First off, 
we must notice his ethical perfection. Verse nine. And they made his 
grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because 
he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth." 
This makes his substitutionary work all the more glorious, doesn't 
it? He was innocent of all crimes. There was no fault in the Savior, 
no blemish of imperfection. Nothing lacking in Jesus Christ, 
the blessed Redeemer, the perfect one. Yet he's delivered up in 
the room and in the stead and of the place and in the place 
of the wicked ones, sinners. He had done no violence, nor 
was any deceit in his mouth. Our Savior had ethical perfection. You can turn to Hebrews 4 to 
see something of the Pauline witness in the book of Hebrews 
to this reality. Hebrews 4, beginning at verse 
14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed 
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast 
our confession. For we do not have a high priest 
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points 
tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly 
to the throne of grace that we may obtain and find grace to 
help in time of need. Never miss the account of Adam, 
And the account of covenant Israel without seeing their typological 
nature. What do I mean by that? They 
served as types of Jesus Christ. They foreshadowed in a negative 
sense what Christ would perform in a perfect sense. What do I 
mean by that? Adam was a covenant was made 
with Adam. He failed. God blessed him in 
a garden. He placed him in a paradise and 
said, observe these commands. If you do, blessing. If you don't, 
cursing. I'm paraphrasing, but that's 
what God says. He makes a covenant with Adam. 
If he breaches the covenant, then cursings. If he upholds 
that covenant arrangement, blessings. We know what happens. He fails. He's exiled from the garden and 
the curse comes upon him and all his progeny. We get to the 
narrative concerning Israel. What do we see? We see a covenant 
made with Moses and with the nation of Israel. Cursings, if 
you do not obey my commandments. Blessings, if you do obey. Now, 
to qualify, not salvific blessings. I'm not saying that if Israel 
obeyed God, they would receive eternal life. I'm talking about 
physical blessings of that temporary covenant. If you do, The Decalogue. If you obey it, if you keep My 
covenant, I will bless you richly. You can read Deuteronomy 28 later 
to see this. If you violate My covenant, then 
cursings will come upon you. Israel fails. We know that from 
the Bible. Israel fails. Jesus comes, though, 
as the second, the last Adam. Jesus comes as the true and perfect 
Son of God. Israel, His chosen one. And He 
perfectly completes that performing of God's obligations. He comes 
and he passes the probation. And by virtue of his perfect 
work, he brings all those covenantally attached in saving faith into 
the bliss of paradise. Paradise restored by Jesus Christ. Adam fails. Israel fails. Christ performs perfectly and 
brings his people to perfection on behalf of his saving work. His ethical perfection and of 
course his redemptive perfection. His redemptive perfection. His 
is not an atonement of maybe. It is not an atonement of perhaps. It is an atonement of yes, verily, 
and certainty. He perfectly secures the salvation 
of a multitude that no man can number. Verse 11, he shall see 
the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, 
my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their 
iniquities. The very fact that Jesus Christ 
is the bearer of his people's iniquities, that is the reason 
for the perfect salvation of those for whom he bears iniquities. Jesus Christ, my servant, the 
text says, shall justify many. By his knowledge, my righteous 
servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. 
Jesus Christ, upon the cross of Calvary, did not establish 
a redemptive plan that needs to be activated by the free will 
of mankind. Jesus did all that he can do, 
and now it's up to you. Horror of horrors. Jesus perfectly 
secures the salvation of a multitude that no man can number. There 
are not sinners in hell waving their fists in anger at God who 
are secured by or who Christ's blood secured somehow or was 
efficacious for. That means the Savior failed, 
that Jesus Christ is a failure, that it was his will to do the 
will of his father. that of all that his father gave 
him, he should lose none. But you see, he failed. There's 
multitudes in hell. No, Jesus Christ died so as to 
perfectly secure the salvation of a multitude that no man can 
number. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify 
many, for he shall bear their iniquities." Spurgeon said, if 
the Arminian conception of atonement is true, the cross quakes, the 
blood falls powerless to the ground, And redemption is a matter 
of perhaps. Jesus died perfectly to secure 
with majestic perfection, the salvation of all whom the father 
gave to him. And lastly, his triumphant reward, 
his triumphant reward, verse 12. Therefore, I will divide 
him a portion with the great. And he shall divide the spoil 
with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death." Isn't 
that wonderful? God rewards the work of the second, 
the blessed Trinity. Therefore, I will divide him, 
a portion with the strong. A good parallel passage that 
summarizes all of the theology of Isaiah 53 in the New Testament 
is Philippians 2, 6-11. Philippians 2, 6-11. If you want 
to see a good theological, creedal summary of Isaiah 53, you find 
it there. In Philippians 2, 6-11, the Apostle 
Paul writes this, speaking of Jesus, who being in the form 
of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made 
himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and 
coming in the likeness of men. and being found in appearance 
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point 
of death, even the death of the cross. Now, notice his triumphant 
reward. Therefore, God also has highly 
exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in 
heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, 
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is 
Lord to the glory of God the Father. We have the incarnation. He was in the form of God, did 
not consider it, though, robbery to be equal with God, or he did 
not consider equality with God something to be held on to, but 
made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. 
He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. There was no beauty 
in him that we would desire him. He was despised and rejected 
because the glorious The glorious second of the triune God came 
and made himself of no reputation. He was obedient to the Lord God, 
even to the point of death. He humbled himself and became 
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 
All of that substitutionary language in Isaiah 53. And by virtue of 
that work, he gets his triumphant reward. As Isaiah 53 says, therefore, 
I will divide him a portion with the great. But it doesn't stop 
there. and he shall divide the spoil with the strong." What 
does that mean? That means that Christ shares 
the spoils of his victory with his people. You see, the powerful 
victor doesn't descend from glory to lower ignominy, triumphantly 
reign victorious in his saving work, and then depart, and that's 
it. He sends his Holy Spirit, the 
promised one, another helper, who comes and applies the benefits 
of that saving work salvificly to his people. He is the victor 
and he shares the spoils with his people. The winnings, the 
victorious rewards of his saving work, he shares with his people. 
Not only do we see that, brethren, in the eternal state to come, 
That great eschatological reality that for multitudinous years, 
more than that, for eternity, we will sing the praises of Jesus 
Christ and of our triune God. But we can realize that here 
in this lower world, because aren't we now currently the possessors 
of eternal life? We have been saved, the Bible 
says. Yes, there is that you will be 
saved with regards to glorification, the certainty of our entering 
into Emmanuel's land. But there is the now present 
possession of all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places 
in Jesus Christ. We get to engage in the Lord's 
Supper right now, that is a temporal spoil that Christ won for us. We get to observe and celebrate 
this ordinance of remembrance where we look back as retrospective 
Christians to his body broken for us and his blood shed for 
us. We have many things that we could 
meditate upon with regards to the spoils of victory. For us, 
Calvin said, Christ subdued death, the world and the devil. So as 
we engage in this supper now, let us rejoice in Christ Jesus, 
our perfect humble one, our perfect substitute, that perfect Jesus 
of determination to complete his task he had resolved, that 
perfect Jesus of ethical perfection, redemptive perfection, and that 
one who by his work secured that triumphant reward not only for 
himself, but for his people. Let's rejoice in that Jesus. 
And if you don't believe in him, why not? What is greater than 
our Lord Jesus Christ? What is more splendid than the 
Savior of saviors, the King of kings and the Lord of lords? 
You stand under, you sit under the wrath of almighty God, his 
wholesome severity and condemnation for having transgressed his law. 
But mercy of mercies is found in Jesus who came into this world 
to save sinners. If you believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, you will be saved. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for Jesus Christ. We thank you for this passage 
of Scripture, Lord, for what it discloses concerning him. 
We thank you for his perfections, for his humility, for that perfect 
substitutionary work, for all of the riches and the excellencies 
disclosed to us, revealed to us in your Scriptures. Might 
we daily sing his praises. Might we now observe with great 
glory this ordinance given to us of remembrance, that we would 
remember the saving work of Jesus as we partake of this bread and 
of this wine. Help us, Lord God, to glory in, 
to properly remember, to cast off the remembrance and the contemplations 
of wicked things or earthly things and to be now wholly abandoned 
unto the remembrance of Jesus Christ broken for us and his 
blood shed for us. We pray in his precious name.